


Visitor to the Vault

by sariane



Category: Doctor Who
Genre: MasterWorks50, Multiple Masters (Doctor Who), The Vault (Doctor Who)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:20:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,881
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489707
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sariane/pseuds/sariane
Summary: O visits the Doctor and Missy in the Vault.
Relationships: The Doctor/The Master (Doctor Who), Twelfth Doctor & The Master (Dhawan)
Comments: 8
Kudos: 20





	Visitor to the Vault

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [MasterWorks50 event](https://sarriane.tumblr.com/post/636680265655369728) in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Master! For descriptive prompt #1: _What happens when the Master meets theirself?_
> 
> Note: Although I know it’s a popular fan theory that Dhawan!Master is a pre-Missy incarnation, this story assumes that he is the regeneration after Missy.

“We’re going to read ‘The Forest of the Android’ next week in class. A solid grounding in physics always begins with an understanding of robo-poetry.” 

“You can’t assign that! This is 2016, it hasn’t even been published yet!”

“So? I’m emailing them the PDF. They’re undergrads – they won’t even notice.”

“You think they’ll just _accept_ that a roomba is out there writing sonnets?!”

“Not sonnets! It’s all free verse. ‘Soft are petals, love, and metal / hard is you, and me, and us.’”

“That’s utter tripe. Did a robot really write that?”

There. The perfect moment. He takes a deep breath and steps into the Vault.

“I thought it was beautiful,” O says hesitantly. 

The Doctor looks up, startled. He had been playing a soft little tune on the piano while he and Missy bickered. His frown fades away when he sees who is visiting.

“’Plant a seed, peer to peer / in the fertile soil between us,’” the Doctor continues, running his fingers over a few piano keys for effect. He grins. “O! What are you doing here?” 

“I was in the neighborhood... and I have a favor to ask,” O replies with a sheepish smile. 

“Oh?” the Doctor asks ironically, his eyebrows gleefully disappearing into his hair at the pun. The Master has to suppress a chuckle. He doesn’t _really_ need a favor, of course, he just needs to ingratiate himself a little further into the Doctor’s hearts. What better a moment than when he’s in the Vault, simpering away at –

“Missy!” the Doctor says suddenly. He gets to his feet and waves his hands between them in introduction. “This is my friend from MI6, codename: _O_. O, this is… Missy. Codename: Missy.”

Missy glares at him from the piano bench. The Doctor doesn’t notice, too caught up in excitement over his visitor. The Master smiles to himself. He’s got the Doctor wrapped around his finger in both the past _and_ the present.

“What is he doing _here_?” Missy asks through gritted teeth. 

“I – I’m sorry,” O says, wide-eyed, looking from Missy to the Doctor. “Am I interrupting something? It sounded like you were doing lesson plans. Is this your TA?”

“His _what_ – ?!”

“Oh no, no, no, no,” the Doctor says quickly, holding his hands up defensively, looking a little panicked.

“I’m sorry, your… girlfriend? Partner?”

“I think you’d better stop there,” the Doctor says under his breath. “At least until I put up the force fields. She’s kind of my prisoner, actually.”

Behind the Doctor’s back, Missy flicks the V sign at the Master. 

“Prisoner?” O gulps, taking a step back. “Wait. Is she an alien, like you?”

“Yes,” the Doctor says, suddenly reluctant. “It’s a long story. She’s a Time Lord, like me…”

“Wait!” O says excitedly, “I’ve read about this… A Time Lord like you? A renegade, criminal mastermind… This is the Rani, isn’t it?”

“If I was, I would pickle your livers,” Missy announces viciously.

“Humans only have one liver, Missy,” the Doctor says, oblivious. Missy just purses her lips.

O takes a step backwards. “I should probably be going,” he says. “I didn’t mean to stop in unannounced, but, well, I wasn’t sure how to contact you. I found what I _think_ is an alien artifact, but none of the tech guys at the office will hear me out. They still think aliens are a load of rubbish.”

“Shame on them!” the Doctor says, angered on O’s behalf. The Master bites back a smile. He reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out the device – a Zygon communicator.

“I think it’s encrypted. I can’t make any sense of the messages,” O continues, passing the device to the Doctor.

Missy leans forwards and taps out the Imperial March on the piano. The Doctor doesn’t seem to notice.

“I might be able to help there,” the Doctor says. He pats his pockets, presumably looking for his sonic screwdriver, and stops when he can’t find it. “Ah. Um. I’ll just be a moment, then, if you don’t mind waiting?” He stalks out of the Vault, the Zygon communicator in hand. The containment field around the piano blinks to life just as the Doctor steps outside the door.

The Master walks up to the edge of the field and stops. Missy spins around on the piano bench to face him.

“What are you playing at?” she hisses, leaning forwards.

“You know, this place is much smaller than I remember,” the Master says, looking around the Vault. He pulls on the lapels of his jacket. 

“Yeah? What’s the point of stopping in here?” Missy asks. “Are you _at_ least going to slip me something contraband? I’m dreadfully bored.”

“You know, sometimes I forget how angry it made me, to be kept in here,” the Master says, still looking around contemplatively. “Nattering around all day about _robot poetry_. Entertaining the Doctor. Being brought meals like a child.”

“The sex was good, though, right?” Missy suggests sarcastically.

The Master laughs, chuckling to himself. “If only I could tell you. And there’s so much I wish I could... You can draw your own conclusions from my presence.”

“Oh, spoilers,” Missy says dismissively. “So, I get out of here one day. I always knew _that_. What are you doing with MI6?”

“Maybe I’ve had a change of heart and I’m atoning for the bad things I’ve done,” the Master says sarcastically, clapping a hand over his hearts and batting his eyelashes. 

“You really _are_ trying to get into the Doctor’s pants again!” Missy cackles condescendingly. “Good luck.” 

“Why are you always so crude?” the Master snaps.

“Why are _you_ torturing me?” Missy snaps right back. “I know my self-destructive streak runs a little strong, but this is just ridiculous. Are you seriously _taunting_ yourself? Is it truly the Doctor you’re so angry with, for overseeing your sentence, or are you angry with yourself for –”

“Hey,” the Master warns.

“For _enjoying it_ ,” Missy says through gritted teeth. She smirks.

“I didn’t enjoy it,” the Master snaps. “I tolerated it. I did what I had to survive. You’ve got Stockholm Syndrome, that’s all.”

Missy throws her head back and laughs. “Stockholm Syndrome isn’t real! I had a choice when the Doctor failed to execute me, and I chose _him_. I could leave, if I really wanted to. Right this minute, I could walk out that door. Is that what makes you so angry? Your moment of weakness from a lifetime ago? That you _chose_ the Doctor?”

The Master clenches his jaw. He knows _so much_ that Missy doesn’t, not yet, but he’d love to tell her. See her pretty face fall and crumble. She deserves it.

“I’ve always been a bit of a sadomasochistic, but this is ridiculous,” Missy sneers. “No matter who I end up being, I was still here. I still _agreed_ to it. If you can’t stand by yourself, you can’t stand by anything.”

“You’ll never stand where you want to,” the Master warns her. “All we know how to do is fall.”

“Fall? Perhaps you’re right,” Missy says smartly. “You wouldn’t be in here, wasting your time on another petty little plot if you hadn’t _fallen_ for the Doctor.”

“You’ve gone mad,” the Master spits.

“And _you’re_ talking to yourself,” Missy responds.

The Master opens his mouth to snipe back, but he’s interrupted by the Doctor’s return. He pushes the Vault door open and strides in, holding up the Zygon communicator triumphantly.

“Oh, no,” the Doctor says, seeing O standing beside the containment unit, arguing with Missy. “Has she been behaving?”

“I think so?” O says uncertainly, wringing his hands a little. “We were talking about that book. Did a robot really write that?”

“Well, the authorship was disputed at first, but it came out all right in the end,” the Doctor shrugs. He hands the communicator back to O. “Interesting piece of technology you have here. What are you going to do with it?”

“Well, I –”

“He’s going to hack into the Zygon ships and download their computer records, then create his own comms network based on a variation of their communications frequency,” Missy says in a bored voice.

The Master glares at Missy. She shrugs at him. _It’s what I would do_. 

“Ah. Did he explain his ideas to you while I was away, then?” the Doctor asks, looking from Missy to O. “I hope she wasn’t _too_ rude about correcting the finer points of your plan. She’s not used to humans.”

“Oh, no, she was – that is – she’s been very helpful –” the Master finds himself slightly lost for words with the Doctor’s eyes on him once more. 

The Master _remembers_ what it felt like to see those eyes look straight through him. Now, they’re looking at him like he’s the most interesting thing in the room.

“You’re too kind, O,” the Doctor says gently. “I know us Time Lords can be a little tetchy at best. Do you need any help with your project? I’ve got a free afternoon. We could get a coffee.” He looks hopeful.

The Master knows the Doctor doesn’t really have the time – it’s a weekday, and he’ll have afternoon office hours. But the Doctor isn’t just looking for an excuse to get out of them, he genuinely wants to spend time with him. With _O_ . To take it slow, and talk. The Doctor _never_ takes the slow path… why has this one committed to it? Because of _her._

Over at the piano, Missy has a sour look on her face. The Master can’t remember this day – the paradox, no doubt – but he remembers how to read that face. She’s _jealous._ He almost laughs. 

“I don’t know, I don’t want to take up any of your time –” O says, reaching out to take the Zygon comm back from the Doctor. 

He can see it now, in his head: they’ll get coffee and they’ll talk, and the Doctor will listen with that light in his eyes, and O will blush and grin, and – 

The Doctor’s fingers brush against his when he passes over the communicator. Time freezes for a moment, and the Master remembers: the Doctor taking Missy’s hand, and asking her to stand with him. The Doctor will never know what happened after. They can’t _ever_ know.

“I better get back,” O says, swallowing. “Thank you, though, I can’t tell you how much I appreciate –”

“Anytime,” the Doctor says, almost uncharacteristically pleased to help. He’s always like this when O comes to visit, always overjoyed to see a human so bright and intelligent. The Master remembers when the Doctor first looked at him with such unbridled admiration, such a long time ago. On Gallifrey.

He wonders how many people the Doctor has looked at like that _._

As O leaves the Vault, Missy picks up ‘The Forest of the Android.’ The Doctor waves goodbye.

“Underneath, the root directories grow / a new kind of life for us / together, in the branches,” Missy reads. “What complete rubbish.”

***

_us_

by TL11-04 (pub. 2035), from ‘The Forest of the Android’

soft are petals, love, and metal

hard is you, and me, and us.

plant a seed, peer to peer

in the fertile soil between us.

underneath, the root directories grow

a new kind of life for us

together, in the branches.

***


End file.
